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100 years on the Plateau | Enumclaw Historical Society

This photo isn’t all that local, but the motorcycle is so awesome we felt compelled to post it. It was taken in front of the post office in the long-forgotten, “coal and clay” mining town of Taylor, Wash., about four miles east of present-day Hobart.

Norman Cosgrove is riding a 1915 Excelsior Big Valve X, three-speed, all chain drive, 61-cubic inch (1000 cc), V-twin motorcycle. Excelsior was the first motorcycle brand to go faster than 100 mph as recorded by a sanctioning organization. Ignaz Schwinn, founder of Schwinn Bicycles, purchased the Excelsior Company in 1912. The Excelsior motorcycle was manufactured from 1905-1931, when the plant shut down in the face of the Great Depression.

Research for this caption comes courtesy of Allister MacKinnon, a Ravensdale motorcycle enthusiast.

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